Opposition Calls for Elected Govt, Multiparty Democracy
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SUBSCRIPTION SUNDAY, APRIL 13, 2014 JAMADA ALTHANI 13, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net For full information on the students’ art competition ‘Kuwait Beautiful and Green’ winners, Kuwait Times will cover it on a daily basis until the end of the week. Opposition calls for elected Max 39º govt, multiparty democracy Min 16º High Tide 11:10 & 23:01 Low Tide Coalition plans rallies to press for reforms 04:56 & 17:12 40 PAGES NO: 16134 150 FILS By B Izzak sion between the presidential and the parlia- to boost the Assembly’s powers and keep the mentary systems,” the coalition’s coordinator government away from the control of the Al- KUWAIT: The Opposition Coalition, comprising and former MP Musallam Al-Barrak said at a Sabah family which has been in power for over of political groups that boycotted recent elec- press conference while releasing the 46-page 250 years. The reform program calls for adopting tions, yesterday launched what it called a document. a multiparty system, legalizing political parties, “national political reform program” that seeks a Kuwait adopts a unique democratic system changing the electoral system to turn Kuwait full parliamentary system, an elected govern- that is a hybrid between the presidential and into a single constituency and that the leader of ment not headed by a ruling family member the parliamentary forms. Under the former, the the party winning the largest number of seats and legislation to fight corruption and broaden head of state enjoys extensive powers while should automatically become the prime minis- accountability. under the latter, parliament has all the powers ter. The program, signed by most of the groups with formalities left for the head of the state. The It requires that the new government must under the coalition, calls for doubling National Amir in Kuwait enjoys extensive powers and is submit a program to the Assembly, which must Assembly members to 100, restricting HH the the head of the three authorities - the executive, vote on it to grant its confidence to the govern- KUWAIT: Coordinator of the Opposition Coalition and former MP Musallam Al- Amir’s undisputed powers on appointing the the legislative and the judiciary - and can dis- ment, which must resign if the program is Barrak speaks during a press conference about a ‘national political reform pro- prime minister and dissolving the current solve the Assembly almost unchallenged. rejected. gram’ that was launched by the coalition yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat Assembly. “We aim at resolving the faulty confu- The opposition however wants the reforms Continued on Page 13 NSA denies taking Kuwait Times fetes arty students advantage of bug WASHINGTON: The US National ware commonly used to protect pass- Security Agency on Friday denied a words, credit card numbers and other report claiming it was aware of and even data sent via the Internet. exploited the “Heartbleed” online securi- A White House official also denied ty flaw to gather critical intelligence. The that any US agency was aware of the stern denial came amid growing panic bug before it was revealed by security among Internet users the world over researchers earlier this month. “Reports about the newly exposed flaw, after a that NSA or any other part of the gov- report by Bloomberg News said the spy ernment were aware of the so-called agency decided to keep quiet about the Heartbleed vulnerability before April matter and even used it to scoop up 2014 are wrong,” White House national more data, including passwords. security spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden “NSA was not aware of the recently said in a statement. “This administration identified vulnerability in OpenSSL, the takes seriously its responsibility to help so-called Heartbleed vulnerability, until maintain an open, interoperable, secure it was made public in a private-sector and reliable Internet. If the federal gov- cybersecurity report,” NSA spokes- ernment, including the intelligence woman Vanee Vines said in an email. community, had discovered this vulner- “Reports that say otherwise are wrong.” ability prior to last week, it would have OpenSSL is online-data scrambling soft- Continued on Page 13 Iran not considering alternative UN pick TEHRAN: Iran signalled its defiance yester- New York. “We are not considering an alterna- day over America’s refusal to grant a visa to its tive pick,” Abbas Araqchi told the Mehr news chosen UN ambassador, saying it does not agency, noting that Iran would pursue the plan to pick an alternative envoy. Tehran also issue of visa denial “through legal mecha- said it was examining its legal nisms at the UN”. options over the row, which has Prominent lawmaker Alaeddin undermined a cautious thaw in Boroujerdi said the US had no relations after decades of enmity right to intervene in Iran’s UN following the storming of the US envoy pick. “Naming Aboutalebi embassy in 1979 and the hostage as Iran’s UN envoy has nothing to crisis that followed. The United do with the US. American opposi- States has said it will not issue a tion to Aboutalebi’s entry is a mis- visa to Hamid Aboutalebi because use of the geographical location of his links to the students who of the UN,” the Iranian parliament’s seized the embassy just months Aboutalebi website quoted Boroujerdi as say- KUWAIT: (Top) Minister of Information and Minister of Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Hamoud Al-Sabah (second left) is pre- after the Islamic revolution. ing yesterday. “The Iranian government sented a memento by Kuwait Times Deputy Editor-in-Chief Dr M Ziyad Al-Alyan (left), Kuwait Times Marketing Director Adnan Saad (second However, Iran’s deputy foreign minister should stand up to this US bullying.” right) and Saleh Al-Alyan during an award ceremony for the winners of Kuwait Times’ ‘Kuwait Beautiful & Green’ students’ art competition said the country was not considering any Boroujerdi, who heads the Iranian parlia- yesterday. (Above left) Sheikh Salman addresses the gathering. (Above right) Sheikh Salman, Dr Ziyad and Saad view the winning entries. potential replacement for Aboutalebi, an ment’s national security and foreign policy Also in attendance were representatives of sponsors Saudi Arabian Chevron, Zain Telecom, Jumeirah Beach Hotel & Spa and Motive experienced diplomat who has previously committee, urged Foreign Minister Advertising. Teachers from the participating schools, the judging committee and the winning students and their families were also present. attended sessions at the UN headquarters in Continued on Page 13 More details about the competition and the ceremony tomorrow! — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat (More pics on Page 2) Antarctica a dream destination Emirati ‘brain damaged’ after PRESIDENT FREI BASE, Antarctica: As the sun sets, the cloudy sky melds with the glaring white of the frozen London attack terrain. Tourists trudging in single file line marvel over blue glaciers in Antarctica, a hip new vacation destina- LONDON: An Emirati woman attacked in her London hotel tion. The group paid a small fortune - $3,000 per head - in a suspected burglary last weekend lost an eye and has for a quick five-hour visit to the frozen continent, arriv- been left with only five percent of her brain function, police ing by plane. “Coming to Antarctica was a dream for me said yesterday. The woman and her two sisters, all from the and my wife,” American John Reiss, 81, said as he stood United Arab Emirates, were brutally attacked with a hammer beside his wife Sharon, 73. in their room at the four-star Cumberland Hotel in the early “We signed up a couple years ago, but we couldn’t hours of last Sunday morning. A British man appeared in get on it, so we went on a waiting list. This year we court yesterday accused of three counts of attempted mur- signed a year in advance and we made it.” The couple der and one of aggravated burglary, while three others have boarded a cruise ship in Florida, where they live, to also been charged with handling stolen goods. head to Punta Arenas in the south of Chile, where they Outside court, police gave an update on the victims, who caught a two-hour flight to Antarctica. are all in their 30s and were in London for a shopping trip. The tourists visited the island of King George, in the “The main victim suffered life-threatening head and facial South Shetlands archipelago and the neighboring injuries, has lost her left eye and significant quantities of Russian station of Bellingshausen with its out-of-place blood,” Detective Inspector Adam Ghaboos said. “Doctors Orthodox church. They also saw the small Chilean ham- have assessed that she has five percent brain function, although her other organs are in good working function,” he let of Villa Las Estrellas home to just 64 people and added, without elaborating further. colonies of penguins. Another option is to tour Half Another sister suffered two fractures to her skull, a broken Moon Island, a habitat of seals and penguins that is left arm and a fractured cheekbone, and is due to undergo home to the Argentine base of Teniente Camara. There two operations this week. The third sister has a fracture to they can sip a hot cup of coffee, send a postcard and her skull and a ruptured left eardrum. She was released from get their passport stamped with a picture of a krill, a Adelie penguins drift on an ice floe in the Southern Ocean off the Australian Antarctic Territory in this March hospital on Tuesday but was readmitted the following day kind of small shrimp that is the symbol of the base. with severe head pains. — AFP Continued on Page 13 4, 2007 photo.